U.S. patent application number 10/417583 was filed with the patent office on 2003-11-27 for computer system providing selective wireless network enablement.
This patent application is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to Fujii, Kazuo, Itoh, Masaharu, Matsunaga, Kozo, Uno, Shunya.
Application Number | 20030220126 10/417583 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29534205 |
Filed Date | 2003-11-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030220126 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fujii, Kazuo ; et
al. |
November 27, 2003 |
Computer system providing selective wireless network enablement
Abstract
A computer system is provided with an antenna which disables
inappropriate wireless communications when a communication
controller is inconsistently connected with the antenna. The
computer having a diversity antenna connected to a detachable
wireless LAN card containing a controller for providing wireless
communication is mounted in a mini PCI slot, comprising a switch
device for recognizing the identification information (ID) of the
wireless LAN card to be mounted by BIOS executed on a CPU, in which
the connection between the diversity antenna and the wireless LAN
card is maintained in an off state (default) as an initial state in
which the wireless LAN card is mounted, and the connection is
enabled based on the identification information recognized by the
BIOS.
Inventors: |
Fujii, Kazuo; (Yokohama-shi,
JP) ; Itoh, Masaharu; (Yamato-shi, JP) ;
Matsunaga, Kozo; (Sagamihara-shi, JP) ; Uno,
Shunya; (Fujisawa-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
IBM CORPORATION
PO BOX 12195
DEPT 9CCA, BLDG 002
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK
NC
27709
US
|
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
29534205 |
Appl. No.: |
10/417583 |
Filed: |
April 17, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/550.1 ;
455/41.3; 455/562.1; 455/95 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 88/02 20130101;
H04W 84/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/550.1 ;
455/41.3; 455/95; 455/562.1 |
International
Class: |
H04B 001/034 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 18, 2002 |
JP |
2002-116767 |
Claims
We claim as our invention:
1. An apparatus comprising: an antenna which receives and transmits
wireless signals; a connector; a wireless communication device
plugged into said connector and operably connected to said antenna;
a recognition unit, coupled to said connector, which recognizes an
identification information of the device; and a switch, coupled to
said antenna and said device, which maintains the disconnected
state of the connection between said antenna and said device in an
initial state when said device is plugged into said connector, and
activates said switch to enable wireless communications based on
the identification information recognized by said recognition
unit.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a storage device,
coupled to said switch, which stores supported device information
for enabling the connection with said antenna, wherein said switch
activates said connection when the identification information
recognized by said recognition unit matches the stored supported
device information.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the supported device
information stored in said storage device is network controller
identification information that has wireless communication
specification approval in combination with said antenna.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said device is a
multi-function card having at least a wireless LAN function.
5. An apparatus comprising: a wireless antenna; a network card
which provides wireless communications through said wireless
antenna and which removably connects to said apparatus; a storage
device, coupled to said network card, which stores identification
information of said network card which has specification approval
to operate with said wireless antenna for a wireless communication;
a recognition unit, coupled to said network card, which recognizes
the identification information of said network card; and an abort
unit, coupled to said network card, for terminating a start
sequence when the identification information recognized by said
recognition unit is not found to match the stored identification
information.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising: a display, coupled
to said abort unit, which displays a message indicating that said
network card does not have the specification approval for using
said antenna before said abort unit terminates the start sequence
of said apparatus.
7. A method comprising the steps of: mounting a device to provide
wireless communications on an apparatus; recognizing an
identification information of the device mounted on the apparatus;
determining whether the device is supported by the apparatus based
on identification information from said recognizing step; and
activating a switch which makes a connection between a wireless
antenna and the device if said device is supported by the
apparatus, herein the switch's initial state is a not connected
state.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said determining step determines
whether the device is supported by the apparatus based upon a
network controller of the device having a specification approval
for use in combination with the wireless antenna.
9. A method comprising the steps of: mounting a device to provide
wireless communications on an apparatus; recognizing the
identification information of the device from the mounting step;
determining whether the device contains a network controller having
a specification approval for wireless communication use in
combination with a wireless antenna based on the identification
information recognized in said recognizing step; and aborting a
start sequence of the apparatus when it is determined that the
device does not contain the network controller having the
specification approval.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of: displaying
an information message indicating that the network controller does
not have the specification approval required for wireless
communications before aborting the start sequence of the apparatus.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a computer, and more
particularly to a computer capable of connecting a function
expansion device such as a network card.
[0002] In recent years, computers such as laptop personal computers
(note PC) increasingly have a wireless LAN function for connecting
the apparatuses without employing a cable to construct a network.
In the conventional cable LAN, all the apparatuses on the network
are physically connected by employing cables, whereby complex
wiring is required. Since it is not possible to make a connection
to the network from a location without a port installed, some
preparation was also needed when using the apparatus at other
locations than a fixed location, including copying the data at the
time of presentation. However, a wireless LAN enables an
organization to build a more flexible office environment, with
various restrictions of the wired or cable LAN removed.
[0003] The greatest feature of this wireless environment is the
capability of communicating the information with other apparatuses
without employing wires or cables. There are various kinds of
specifications, including "IR (infrared communication)",
"Bluetooth", and "WiFi". For example, in effectively utilizing the
fast broadband Internet, it is preferable to construct the wireless
environment having high communication rates in conformance to
"Wi-Fi" based on the international standards IEEE802.11. The
IEEE802.11 High-Rate standards are promoted by WECA (Wireless
Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) to assure mutual operability
between products, in which the product with approved compatibility
is marked with a "Wi-Fi" logo. The IEEE802.11 standards include
IEEE802.11b using the 2.4 GHz band with a maximum transfer speed of
11 Mbps (Mega bits per second), and IEEE802.11a using the 5 GHz
band with a nominal speed of 54 Mbps.
[0004] On the other hand, the computer represented by the note PC
is able to mount a function expansion card such as a PCI card or a
Mini PCI card to expand the memory or make various inputs and
outputs such as extending the modem function. The mounting methods
include mounting the card on a motherboard (main substrate) of the
computer, and fitting it into a slot. For example, in a case where
the function expansion card was employed to implement the wireless
LAN function, conventionally, the function expansion card itself
had an antenna attached, and a controller for the wireless LAN
communication within the expansion card along with the antenna was
certified with the approval of the FCC (Federal Communications
Commission), for example.
[0005] However, the antenna that can be provided in the function
expansion card is restricted in the arrangement and size of
antenna, and difficult to enhance its performance. Thus, some note
PCs have a wireless antenna overhung from the liquid crystal panel
portion, or contain a high performance antenna in the main body of
the note PC employing the peripheral part of the liquid crystal
panel portion.
[0006] Herein, in gaining the specification approval or
certification, it is required that the wireless antenna provided in
the main body and the controller are approved integrally. If a
communication function is packaged on the main substrate for the
note PC, the design is simplest. However, since a wireless LAN is
required to have approval from each country it is sold in, a main
substrate may potentially be produced differently for each country
in order to satisfy each country's requirements, if this function
is on-board. Considering configuration flexibility and future
expansion needs, it is not preferable to package the wireless LAN
controller directly attached on the main substrate. Thus, even when
the wireless antenna is employed on the main body, it is preferable
to mount the controller not on the main substrate but on a function
expansion card using a connector attached to the main
substrate.
[0007] On the other hand, when the specification approval is
obtained in a state where the wireless antenna and the controller
are separated, it is necessary to limit the controller mounted in
the system of the note PC. That is, since the wireless antenna and
the controller are integrally placed under the specification
approval, it is not allowed to make communication via the wireless
antenna mounted on the note PC in combination with the unapproved
controller connected to the system. As a method for preventing
unapproved combinations, it is conceived to impose the restriction
on the hardware, such as using a unique connector. However, it is
difficult to make the connector unique, and clarify "What is
unique?", whereby this method is less valid to prevent the
unapproved combinations.
[0008] The present invention has been achieved to solve the
above-mentioned technical problems, and it is a purpose of the
invention to provide a computer with an antenna in which the
wireless communication is disabled via a communication controller
that is not certified or approved to be used in combination with
the antenna.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention
provides a computer having a wireless antenna and capable of
mounting a device for wireless communication, comprising
recognition means for recognizing the identification information of
the device to be mounted, and switching means for keeping the
connection in the off state between the wireless antenna and the
device while in an initial state in which the device is mounted,
and switching the switch to the on state allowing wireless
transmissions across the connection based on the identification
information recognized by the recognition means. That is, the
connection between the wireless antenna and the device is turned
off at default, whereby it is possible to disable the wireless
communication if the device having no specification approval is
connected.
[0010] The computer may further comprise storage means for storing
the supported device information for enabling the connection with
the wireless antenna, in which the switching means switches on the
connection when the identification information recognized by the
recognition means and the supported device information stored in
the storage means are matched. Also, the supported device
information stored in the storage means may be the identification
information of a network controller that has the specification
approval in combination with the wireless antenna for the wireless
communication.
[0011] Further, the device is a card having multiple functions
including a wireless LAN function. Other functions include a modem
function. For example, in the case where the wireless LAN function
involves the network controller having no specification approval,
the wireless LAN function alone is disabled, while other functions
are active, by keeping off the connection with the wireless
antenna.
[0012] From another point of view, the invention provides a
computer comprising storage means for storing the information of
the network card having the specification approval in combination
with the wireless antenna for the wireless communication,
recognition means for recognizing the identification information of
the network card mounted on the computer, abort means for aborting
a start sequence when the identification information recognized by
the recognition means and the information stored in the storage
means do not match, and display means for displaying the
information indicating that the network card having no
specification approval is connected before the abort means aborts
the start sequence.
[0013] Moreover, this invention provides a wireless system setting
method for a computer having a wireless antenna and capable of
mounting a device for the wireless communication, the method
comprising a step of recognizing the identification information of
the network card mounted on the computer, a step of determining
whether or not the device is supported by the computer based on the
recognized identification information, and a step of turning on a
switch with the connection between the wireless antenna and the
device kept off in an initial state in which the device is mounted,
if the device is supported by the computer.
[0014] Here, whether or not the device is supported by the computer
may imply whether or not the device contains a network controller
having the specification approval in combination with the wireless
antenna. Therefore, in the laptop computer (note PC), it preferably
copes with the specification approval for the wireless LAN without
providing the network controller on the motherboard.
[0015] Moreover, the invention provides a wireless system setting
method comprising a step of recognizing the identification
information of the device mounted on the computer, a step of
determining whether or not the device contains a network controller
having the specification approval in combination with the wireless
antenna for the wireless communication based on the recognized
identification information, a step of aborting a start sequence
when it is determined that the device does not contain the network
controller having the specification approval, and a step of
displaying the information indicating that network controller
having no specification approval is connected before aborting the
start sequence.
[0016] The above inventions can be implemented as a program that is
executed on the computer using the BIOS that performs each of the
functions. In this case, the program for implementing each of the
functions may be stored in a storage medium that is readable by the
computer. This storage medium may be a CD-ROM medium, for example.
The program is read by a CD-ROM reader in the computer and stored
in various kinds of memory such as a hard disk, and then executed.
Also, the program may be distributed to the computer such as a
laptop PC via a network by a program transmission apparatus.
[0017] The above summary of the invention does not enumerate all of
the necessary features for the present invention, but some
combinations of these features may be also inventive features.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] Some of the purposes of the invention having been stated,
others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in
connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a view showing the constitution of a computer
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration
of the computer according to the embodiment of the invention;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a switch
device;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for making the
connection/disconnection between antenna and controller; and
[0023] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process for ending a boot
sequence depending on whether or not the device is supported.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0024] While the present invention will be described more fully
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a
preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown, it is to be
understood at the outset of the description which follows that
persons of skill in the appropriate arts may modify the invention
here described while still achieving the favorable results of this
invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be
understood as being a broad, teaching disclosure directed to
persons of skill in the appropriate arts, and not as limiting upon
the present invention.
[0025] The present invention will be described in detail with
respect to an embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0026] Referring now more particularly to the accompanying
drawings, FIG. 1 is a view showing the constitution of a computer
according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1,
the computer, for example, is a laptop personal computer (note PC),
comprising a base portion 11 having a keyboard and a track point
and a display panel 12 composed of an LCD, in which the display
panel 12 is made rotatable via a hinge portion 13. The display
panel 12 is enclosed by a display panel periphery part 14. A
diversity antenna 15 as the wireless antenna is provided on either
side of the display panel 12 and inside the display panel periphery
part 14, and connected via a cable 16 to a wireless LAN card 31
fitted into the base portion 11. This wireless LAN card 31 as a
function expansion device is fitted into a motherboard (not shown)
provided inside the base portion 11 by, for example, opening a lid
provided on a bottom face of the base portion 11.
[0027] The base portion 11 and the display panel periphery part 14
are made of a CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) containing
titanium, for example, from the necessity of enhancing the
durability. However, since this material does not transmit electric
wave, a plastic material of ABS is employed only for a region where
the diversity antenna 15 is provided. The diversity antenna 15
having a better reception sensitivity is automatically selected
from two antennas. The wireless LAN card is a composite card having
multiple functions including a wireless LAN and a modem function,
and the connector conforms with the mini PCI (miniPCI)
standard.
[0028] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration
of the computer according to the embodiment of the invention. This
computer comprises a CPU 21 for executing the utility programs and
various kinds of programs under the control of OS, and operating as
a brain of the overall computer system, a system memory 22 that is
a main storage, a north bridge 23 for controlling the CPU 21 and
the system memory 22, and a graphics controller 24 that is a
graphics mechanism connected via AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port).
Also, the north bridge 23 is interconnected via a PCI (Peripheral
Component Interconnect) bus 25 to each component.
[0029] The PCI is the bus that can make data transfer at relatively
high speed and normalized in accordance with the specification in
which the data bus width is 32 bits or 64 bits, the maximum
operation frequency is 33 MHz or 66 MHz, and the maximum data
transfer rate is 132 MB/sec or 528 MB/sec. A south bridge 26 for
controlling the input/output (I/O) of a hard disk (not shown), a
keyboard (not shown), a mouse (not shown), and a Track Point
(Trademark of IBM Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.) is connected to this
PCI bus 25, and connected to a BIOS flash ROM 27 storing a BIOS
(Basic Input/Output System) program for controlling the device
connected to the system. A mini PCI slot 30 is connected to the PCI
bus 25, and can accept a wireless LAN card 31 conforming to the
miniPCI standards. The BIOS flash ROM 27 stores the identification
information of network controller (device) having the specification
approval in combination with the wireless antenna for the wireless
communication as a device table.
[0030] If fitted via the mini PCI slot 30 into the motherboard, the
wireless LAN card 31 is connected via an antenna connector 32
through a coaxial cable 33 to an antenna switch card 40 (antenna
switch circuit when provided on the motherboard). This antenna
switch card 40 is provided with a switch device 41. One terminal of
the switch device 41 is connected to the coaxial cable 33 for
passing an RF (Radio Frequency) signal that is a radio signal, the
other being connected to a cable 16 leading to the diversity
antenna 15. Also, the switch device 41 switches the
connection/disconnection between the coaxial cable 33 and the cable
16 in accordance with an antenna control signal from the south
bridge 26.
[0031] The antenna switch card 40 is fitted inside the laptop PC.
This antenna switch card 40 is provided at a position not
accessible or untouchable by the user, even when there is a window
(opening portion) opened into a bottom face of the base portion 11
to fit the wireless LAN card 31 into the mini PCI slot 30. That is,
by disposing the antenna switch card 40 inside to be inaccessible
by the user, it is possible to prevent improper bypass of the
antenna cable by the user.
[0032] The switch device 41 is turned off in an initial state, or
set off at default. In this embodiment, even when the wireless LAN
card 31 is fitted in the system, the RF signal can not be released
unless the switch device 41 is turned on.
[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the switch
device 41. At one terminal (J1 side) of the switch device 41, an RF
signal from a wireless LAN subsystem provided on the wireless LAN
card 31 is entered through the coaxial cable 33. Also, an RF signal
to the diversity antenna 15 is inputted at the other terminal (J2
side). An antenna control signal from the south bridge 26 is
entered at the other terminal (V1) of the switch device 41. For
example, if the antenna control signal turns Low (0 V), J1 and J2
are connected, so that an RF signal is passed from the wireless LAN
subsystem to the diversity antenna 15. On the other hand, if the
antenna control signal turns High (VHigh), J1 and J2 are
disconnected, so that the connection between the wireless LAN card
31 and the diversity antenna 15 is inhibited.
[0034] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for making
connection/disconnection between the antenna and the controller.
First of all, the system is powered on (step 101), and the PCI bus
is examined for a specific PC device (step 102). More specifically,
the device to be found has a Base Class of the value 02h (Network
Controller) attached on Bus:2. Herein, there are mini PCI, EDC/MDC,
PC card controller, and docking station PCI-PCI attached on Bus:2
at present.
[0035] PCI ID of the network controller found is read by the BIOS
as recognizing means (step 103). The PCI IDs include a device ID, a
vendor ID (ID designating a card supply company), a subsystem ID
(ID uniquely designating the card), and a subsystem vendor ID. For
these IDs, a device table stored in the BIOS flash ROM 27 is
referred to (step 104). The IDs stored in the device table are the
identification information of network controller (supported device
information) and approved to be compatible in accordance with the
international standards IEEE802.11b in combination with the
diversity antenna 15 that is the wireless antenna. For example, the
device table as storage means stores the device ID, vendor ID,
subsystem ID, and subsystem vendor ID having specification approval
for each product. The stored ID may be one or more kinds for one
product.
[0036] Then, a determination is made whether or not the device is
supported in the note PC by referring to the supported device
information stored in this device table and the ID read from the
device configuration space (step 105). More specifically, this
determination is made based on whether or not the supported device
information stored in the device table and the recognized
identification information (ID) are matched (coincident). If it is
determined that the device is supported, the switch device 41 is
turned on, employing an antenna control signal (step 106). If the
device is not supported, the operation goes to the next step
without turning on the switch device 41. Thereafter, considering
the cases where one device deals with a plurality of functions, and
a plurality of slots exist, a determination is made whether or not
the device is final PCI device (step 107). If the device is not the
final PCI device, the operation returns to step 102, or if there
are no more PCI devices to examine, the operation continues to a
power on self test (POST) (step 108).
[0037] Thus, in this embodiment, when the user starts up the
system, the BIOS checks the subsystem ID of the mini PCI board, for
example, and determines whether or not the inserted or fitted card
is allowed to operate in the wireless system. When the ID is
recognized in a supported device list, the switch device 41 which
defaults to the off state is turned on to enable the radio
communication with the wireless antenna. If the ID in the list is
not recognized, the switch device 41 is not switched. Thereby, even
when the antenna and the controller are separately permitted, the
controller mounted on the system is limited to have the
specification approval.
[0038] The mini PCI device to be fitted may be a composite card
having the functions of a wireless LAN and a modem function, for
example. In this case, according to this embodiment, only the
wireless LAN functions that are not certified are inhibited and all
other functions are enabled and made active.
[0039] As another embodiment, a method for disabling the system
boot (aborting the start sequence) when the controller without
specification approval is connected will be described below.
[0040] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process for ending a boot
sequence (start sequence) depending on whether or not the device is
supported. First of all, the system is powered on (step 201), and
the PCI device is searched by the BIOS that is executed by the CPU
21 as recognition means (step 202) in the same way as in FIG. 4.
Then, PCI ID of the network controller found is read (step 203).
The PCI IDs include a device ID, a vendor ID, a subsystem ID, and a
subsystem vendor ID. These IDs are referred to a device table
stored in the BIOS (step 204). The IDs stored in the device table
are the identification information of network controller approved
to be compatible in accordance with the standards in combination
with the diversity antenna 15 that is the wireless antenna. Then, a
determination is made whether or not the device is supported in the
note PC by referring to the device table and the read ID (step
205). The processes up to this step are the same as shown in FIG.
4.
[0041] At step 205, if the device is not supported, the boot
sequence is terminated or aborted (step 206), and the processes are
ended (step 207). At step 205, if the device is supported, a
determination is made whether or not the device is the last PCI
device to query (step 208). If the device is not the final PCI
device, the operation returns to step 202, or if the device is the
final PCI device, the operation continues to the power on self test
(POST) (step 209). When the boot sequence is ended at step 206, for
example, a message indicating "Unpermitted network card is plugged
in. Turn off the power and remove the mini PCI network card" is
displayed and system is shutdown.
[0042] Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, as a function of limiting
the controller connected to the system, when the apparatus's POST
executes, any mini PCI device not certified or specification
approved is rejected. Thereby, even when the antenna and the
controller are permitted to operate separately, but are not
certified for operation together, the controller's operation is
limited in this simple configuration.
[0043] As above described in detail, with this embodiment, when the
wireless antenna and the controller have separately the legal
approval, the controller provided for the system is simply limited.
In gaining the legal approval regarding the radio of each country,
when the radio LAN card is also employed in other systems
permanently mounted with the same antenna, if the wireless antenna
and the radio LAN card are detachably connected, legal approval
regarding the combined use of the radio and antenna is easily
obtained.
[0044] PCI or PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association) devices have configuration information including an ID
designating the function of the device or card. This ID is only
able to roughly identify whether the card is graphic adapter or
network adapter. This is true with other peripheral interfaces
(e.g., USB). Accordingly, this embodiment is not limited to devices
conforming to the PCI standards, but may be broadly employed for
PCMCIA and USB compliant devices.
[0045] In the drawings and specifications there has been set forth
a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific
terms are used, the description thus given uses terminology in a
generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of
limitation. While the present invention has been described with
respect to the embodiment of the invention, the technical scope of
the present invention is not limited to the described embodiment.
Various changes and modifications may be made in the described
embodiment. As is apparent from the description in the appended
claims, modes of the present invention characterized by such
changes and modifications are also included in the technical scope
of the invention.
* * * * *